NYSNA UPDATE: SEPTEMBER 11, 2026
NYSNA Nurses March and Rally to Honor Workers and Remember Sept. 11
On Tuesday, Sept. 8, NYSNA nurses, including NYSNA directors at large Sonia Lawrence, BSN, RN and Pauline Wallace, BSN, RN, joined a New York City Central Labor Council, AFL-CIO Labor Day rally and march alongside our union siblings, elected officials and community members to celebrate the workers who run New York City, to recognize the 25th anniversary of Sept. 11, and to honor the union workers who responded to the attacks and helped rebuild our city afterward. NYSNA Southern Regional Director Alizia McMyers, MSN, RN, MHA — a care management nurse at NYC Health+Hospitals/Harlem — spoke powerfully at the rally, saying: “As a nurse who worked through 9/11, the COVID-19 pandemic, the Ebola crisis and natural disasters, I know that union workers are the people who keep this city going in difficult times.”
Union workers built New York, and we must continue to fight for a city that cares for all New Yorkers! Check out photos from the event here.
Montefiore Weiler Nurses Pack the Room at Labor Management
For months, neonatal intensive care unit (NICU) nurses at Montefiore Weiler have faced dire understaffing; lack of crucial supplies; and lack of a dedicated transport/resource nurse, which was a staffing improvement they won in the 2026 contract campaign and strike. To address these issues, NICU nurses met several times to gather the facts and prepare member-leaders to present their concerns to management.
At last week’s labor management meeting, NICU nurses made their case as dozens of their colleagues joined them at the meeting. Immediately, NICU nurses won an improvement by getting management to implement a staffing incentive program, which gives NICU nurses an extra $500 for each shift they work overtime. Management also agreed to fill vacancies and address shortfalls in supplies. Nurses kept up the pressure later that day, showing up to a Department of Health meeting, alongside 1199SEIU members, to speak about staffing complaints at the facility.
Despite these victories, there’s still more work to do. Management did not commit to following its contractual agreement to staff the NICU with a dedicated transport/resource nurse, so NYSNA nurses will continue to organize to hold management accountable! Keep up the great work, Montefiore Weiler nurses!
NYSNA Members Gather Online to Discuss Staffing Issues Across New York State
On Thursday, Sept. 10, NYSNA members from across the state gathered on Zoom for a meeting of the Statewide Staffing Committee. Nurses from Manhattan, Brooklyn, Buffalo and the Hudson Valley spoke about the staffing issues they are seeing on their units and in clinical staffing committees. Members also heard from Shawn Baker, a nurse at University of Vermont Health (UVMH)-Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital (CVPH), who spoke about the Department of Health’s (DOH) recent visit to her hospital. Shawn reported back on the questions CVPH members were asked by the DOH and how CVPH members were able to raise the issue of no break coverage. Melissa Balogh-Perez, a nurse from NewYork-Presbyterian Hudson Valley and one of the co-writers of the resolution that led to the formation of the Statewide Staffing Committee, also joined the call to speak about the importance of a forum for nurses to discuss staffing issues statewide.
To learn more about the committee, visit the My Membership section of the NYSNA website or reach out to Healthcare Staffing Coordinator Margaret Franks, MSN, RN, MEDSURG-BC, directly. The committee will meet next on Dec. 10 at 8 p.m.